Christmas Kids

What do we buy for the Grandparents who came heavily laden with gifts from across the ocean?  Really....  what on earth!?  They say that all they want is pictures and that seems doable enough.  We had just seen a super cute photo shoot that friends of ours did so we thought we'd simply head over there and join in the fun.  

It never crossed our minds (why, oh why did it not!?) that this photo studio specialized in 20-something brides and grooms.  Kiddo photography is also a big deal in China and I just assumed that of course they could do that too....

We came in like a tribe, including Grandpa who played a bit for the Bears and who's taller than those make-up artists had ever seen before in their lives.  Did we really think they would be able to outfit us- all eight of us- from kids to giants?

So the photo shoot that was meant as our only gift to Grandma and Grandpa turned into memory of humiliation and hilarity.  Those same young make-up artists had Grandma and Grandpa a little less dressed than they were OK with, the two of them standing side by side in the dressing room with their host of wardrobe attendants, mostly just in shock and horror that would soon, soon (but definitely not yet) ripen into laughter.... and all that was accomplished was more ridiculousness in the way of the worn out emperor and empress arrangement that just did. not. fit. them.  And when there was only one acceptable dress for Grandma, and the ladies shyly mentioned that that was an ancient Chinese man's robe (yes, the one with the pink and lavender flowers) .... we finally gave up the quest and decided that the kids alone would have their pictures taken that day.    

And it really didn't end there.  Because the kids had hardly any clothes either (the only thing that fit Vivi was one shirt that they pinned enough to make it look dress-ish) but that didn't stop any of the ambitious photo / wardrobe crew from believing that they could do this job.  They were unswerving in their determination to snap these shots (no matter how ridiculous!) and there is something, (even if it's just a little something), to be admired about that I guess.  The boys were adorned in....well, you can see,  and I imagined that they could photoshop their pants to at least be black to match the shirts...  but I guess not.  But, the girls did get to wear makeup and that alone made it entirely worth if for both of them.   And we had fun watching these silly shots unfold and that too was a gift to enjoy.  

Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa.... We're so grateful for this and all the fun memories of your time with us recently!!